on the contentious FAA proposal calling for implementation of domestic reduced ve
August 8 marked the official close of the rulemaking comment period
on the contentious FAA proposal calling for implementation of domestic reduced vertical separation minimums (DRVSM) in U.S. airspace starting in December 2004. A large number of business aircraft operators, particularly smaller flight departments and charter providers, are fuming over the proposed rules, which will require sophisticated–and inevitably expensive–height-keeping equipment in airplanes that operate in DRVSM airspace, spanning from a floor of FL 290 to FL 410, inclusive.
Estimates put the cost of DRVSM compliance in the $175,000 to $300,000 range per airplane, in addition to a month of downtime to install new flight instruments and sensors. While many GA groups have already made their positions on the proposal public, official comments submitted to the FAA by NBAA, AOPA, the National Air Transportation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association serve to underscore the deep concerns about the expected economic effect of DRVSM on business and general aviation.
In all, the FAA received more than 70 comments on the DRVSM proposal, many of them from individual business aircraft operators who wrote to say that the costs associated with equipment upgrades would be prohibitively expensive. Learjet 25 operators in particular voiced objections, arguing that because no compliance solution exists for these older business jets they are essentially being regulated out of existence.
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